Stopping indicator system on three-dimensional vehicle display

Abstract

A method of displaying a preferred stopping distance comprising: receiving a current location of an vehicle relative to a landing pad; calculating a deceleration of a lower bound of the preferred stopping distance symbol; calculating a deceleration of a upper bound of the preferred stopping distance symbol; calculating a predicted stopping ground location of the upper bound and lower bound; and displaying the preferred stopping distance symbol on a graphic user interface. A stopping indicator system on a three-dimensional display includes a flight path vector symbol, a landing pad symbol, a waypoint symbol positioned at some altitude above the landing pad symbol, a nearest predicted stopping symbol, a preferred stopping distance symbol, and a predicted stopping location symbol.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of displaying a preferred stopping distance for an aircraft via a stopping indicator system on a three-dimensional display, the computer-implemented method comprising:
 communicating with a Global Positioning System to receive a current location of the aircraft relative to a landing pad;   receiving a maximum deceleration of the aircraft from memory;   calculating a deceleration of a lower bound of the preferred stopping distance and a deceleration of an upper bound of the preferred stopping distance;   displaying a landing pad symbol on a graphic user interface of the three-dimensional display at a predetermined position, wherein the landing pad symbol is positioned on a ground of the three-dimensional display;   calculating predicted stopping ground locations of the upper bound and lower bound based on the deceleration of the upper bound and the deceleration of the lower bound; and   displaying a preferred stopping distance symbol on the graphic user interface of the three-dimensional display at the predicted stopping ground locations, wherein the preferred stopping distance symbol is configured to indicate a range of points at which an aircraft operator may start decelerating the aircraft to reach hover above the landing pad.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the deceleration of the lower bound is a percentage of the maximum deceleration. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the deceleration of the upper bound is a percentage of the maximum deceleration. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the predicted stopping ground locations of the lower bound are calculated based on a ground speed of the aircraft divided by the deceleration of the lower bound. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the predicted stopping ground locations of the upper bound are calculated based on a ground speed of the aircraft divided by the deceleration of the upper bound. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating one or more decelerations of a range of points between the lower bound and the upper bound. 
     
     
         7 . A system comprising:
 a display including one or more screens;   a memory storing instructions; and   a processor executing the instructions to cause display of a stopping indicator system on a three-dimensional display to one or more operators of an aircraft including:   a flight path vector symbol; a landing pad symbol; a waypoint symbol positioned at some altitude above the landing pad symbol; a nearest predicted stopping symbol; a preferred stopping distance symbol; and a predicted stopping location symbol, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processor to:   communicate with a Global Positioning System to receive a current location of the aircraft relative to a landing pad;   receive a maximum deceleration of the aircraft from the memory;   calculate a deceleration of a lower bound of a preferred stopping distance and a deceleration of an upper bound of the preferred stopping distance;   display the landing pad symbol on a graphic user interface of the three-dimensional display at a predetermined position, wherein the landing pad symbol is positioned on a ground of the three-dimensional display;   calculate predicted stopping ground locations of the upper bound and the lower bound based on the deceleration of the upper bound and the deceleration of the lower bound; and   display the preferred stopping distance symbol on the graphic user interface of the three-dimensional display at the predicted stopping ground locations, wherein the preferred stopping distance symbol is configured to indicate a range of points at which an aircraft operator may start decelerating the aircraft to reach hover above the landing pad.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the predicted stopping location symbol is displayed if a deceleration is less than zero. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the landing pad symbol and the waypoint symbol are positioned at a pre-determined latitude and longitude. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the predicted stopping location symbol is displayed on the ground of the three-dimensional display. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the landing pad symbol is positioned on a runway, building, or an elevated terrain. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein an upper point of the preferred stopping distance symbol is a percentage of a maximum deceleration. 
     
     
         13 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 communicate with a Global Positioning System to receive a current location of an aircraft relative to a landing pad;   receive a maximum deceleration of the aircraft from memory;   calculate a deceleration of a lower bound of a preferred stopping distance and a deceleration of an upper bound of the preferred stopping distance;   display a landing pad symbol on a graphical user interface of a three-dimensional display at a predetermined position, wherein the landing pad symbol is positioned on a ground of the three-dimensional display;   calculate predicted stopping ground locations of the upper bound and the lower bound based on the deceleration of the upper bound and the deceleration of the lower bound;   display a flight path vector symbol, a landing pad symbol, a waypoint symbol positioned at some altitude above the landing pad symbol, a nearest predicted stopping symbol, and a predicted stopping location symbol on the graphical user interface of the three-dimensional display; and   display a preferred stopping distance symbol on the graphical user interface of the three-dimensional display at the predicted stopping ground locations, wherein the preferred stopping distance symbol is configured to indicate a range of points at which an aircraft operator may start decelerating the aircraft to reach hover above the landing pad.   
     
     
         14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 13 , wherein the predicted stopping location symbol is displayed if a deceleration is less than zero. 
     
     
         15 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 13 , wherein the landing pad symbol and the waypoint symbol are positioned at a pre-determined latitude and longitude. 
     
     
         16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 13 , wherein the predicted stopping location symbol is displayed on the ground of the three-dimensional display. 
     
     
         17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 13 , wherein the landing pad symbol is positioned on a runway, building, or an elevated terrain. 
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 13 , wherein an upper point of the preferred stopping distance symbol is a percentage of a maximum deceleration.